Animated display device



July 28, 1953 s T01-H 2,646,639

ANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Nov. l0, 1950 3 Shees--Sheevl l I S. TOTHANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE July 28, 1953 Filed Nov. 1o, 195o July 2s, 1953s. TOTH v2,646,639

I ANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE his AHorneg.

Patented July 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A 2,646,639 lANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE y Stephen Toth, Flushing, N.. Y., assigner toShell Development Company, San. Francisco, Calif.,

a corporation of Delaware Application November' 10, 1950,- Se'ral No.195,110'

12 Claims. 1

This invention relates to animated display. devices wherein individualinsignia are mounted for-movement and oscillation. Such devices areparticularly useful in advertising, feature advertising and salesmessages in the forms of one or more words or pictorial representationsof the product container, human faces andgures, ani mals, insects,iiowers, etc., either in the form of cut-outs containing one or'moreletters, Words, etc., or of written matter on a movable bodysuch as a'small plaque..

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved mechanism foranimated display devices that imparts an oscillatory or erratic movementto the individual insignia while or after said devicesmoved by anactuating device. A further object is to provide a device that is ofextreme simplicity. Still another object is to provide an improvedbill-board having a plurality of individually movable and oscillatabieinsignia in fro-nt of the bill-board, the devices being provided withmechanism for intermittently raising and lowering the devicesindividually and successively `and causing the devices to oscillateindependently. In summary, the above objects are achieved by mountingeach insignia device in a separate re-v si'liel'it carrier, such as acombination of springs or a resilient arm that is given a support at onepart thereof and has a movable part adapted for oscillatory movement, e.g., in a substantially vertical plane, and providing an actuatingmeans', such as a shaft having cranksA or lift elements that engage theresilient carrier at a point away from the supported insignia device,preferably in succession, whereby the actuating device can impartmovement Vto the insignia device while permittingthe latter to oscillatefreely by fiexure of the part of the carrier between the insignia deviceand the point of engagement of the actuating vdevice with the carrier.In large devices, such as twenty-four sheet outdoor display billboards.the carrier comprises a slide that can oscillatevertically in a guideand to which the insignia device is fixed, the slide being provided WithV a supporting resilient device, such `as a tension spring, which isfixed to a support, and with a second resilient device that' isconnected in opposition to the first and is fixed to the actuatingmeans. In smaller devices the resilient carrier may take Ythe form of aresilient arm extending outwardly from a support, the insignia devicebeing secured to the outer end of the arm and the arm being supported,e. g., pivotally, toward the inner end thereof and being further engagedby the actuating means. near the inner end.

I In the embodiment using arms, the arms can `be suitably biased by anymeans to rotate inv one direction; itis preferred to rely on the forceofgravity by displacing thepvot axis either for wardly or rearwardly fromthe center of gravity of the arm and parts such as the insignia device,carried thereby, or by the springs, ete., and providing limit stop meansfor arresting the pivotal movement when each arm reaches a predeterminedor normal positiony and the limit stop means being located a substantialdistance in rear of the insignia device so that the latter willoscillate about a mean position by flexure of the resilient arm; inaddition, actuating means are provided for intermittently displacing theseveral arms, preferably in succession, from their normal positions inany desired direction depending upon the bias and the disposition of thelimit stop, and permitting the arms to return to their normal positions.It is preferred topermit the arm to remain in such normal positions anappreciable length of time suflicient to complete at least a plurality.of cycles of oscillations, but they may also be moved. pivotally duringthe oscillation. In the most convenient embodiment, to be described indetail, the arms are pivote'd rearwardly of the centers of gravity ofthe respective arms and supported insignia devices, so that the armstend to pivot in directions tending to depress the front ends andinsignia devices by force of gravity; moreover, the actuating means ispreferably disposed forwardly of the pivot sup-e port and comprises camdevices provided, e. g.,

with one or more lift' iingers secured to a rotata.i ble power drivenshaft for engagingthe under side of the arms and raising the arms fromtheir normal positions during a part of the rotation of the shaft Aandreleasing the arms to permit them to return rapidly to their normalpositions.

Y oscillation of the insignia device being initiated by the inertia ofthe insignia device andthe arm tending to carry the front end. of thearm beyond the normal` position.

The invention. will be described more particu-i larly by reference tothe accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification andvshowing certain illustrative embodiments thereof, where- 1n: I

Fig. 1 is a front elevation View of a bill-board embodying theinvention;

Fig.` 2 is a rear elevation view of a portion of the device;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rear of a modied embodiment, partsbeing broken away;

Fig. is a vertical sectional view of the device of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, similar to Fig. 5 showing a modiedconstruction.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figs. 1-3, thecomposite display device comprises an upright bill-board it suitablysupported on a base Il. The bill-board' carries on the face thereofinsignia to indicate an advertising or sales message that includes aplurality of movable insignia devices l2a, l2b and I2c, each devicebeing a solid object bearing a literal or pictorial representation, hereembodied by cut-outs of the individual letters B, U and Y and made ofsuitable material, such as wood, metal, plastic, etc. It is seen thatthe insignia devices are inv proximity to one another and bearrepresentations related to the other devices to convey a message. Thebillboard carries a series of vertically-elongated openings i3 (see Fig.3)`there being one opening behind each movable insignia, through whichextend pins or bolts i4 by which the insignia devices are secured tocorresponding, separately movable slides, only the slide l5 being shownin Figs. 2 and 3. Each insigniaslide is mounted for verticalreciprocating vmovement'. in a guide comprising angles |611, l6b havinga `pair of coplanar legs arranged to enter vertical slots in the sidesof the slide l5 and having their outer legs fixed to any suitablesupport, such as vertical angles lla, lib, that are fixed to thebill-board.

The slide l5 is supported by a resilient carrier comprising a pair ofresilient members acting in opposition. In this embodiment tensionsprings I8 and I9 are used as the resilient members. The upper end ofthe first spring I8 constitutes the supported part of the carrier and issecured to the support through a horizontal pin 2U carried by the anglesl1, Ila and the lower end is xed to the slide l5 to afford verticalsupport thereto and urge it resiliently upward. The upper endof thesecond spring I9 is also xed to the slide i5 and the lower end thereof.is iixed to a metal collar 2| that is rotatably mounted on a crankoiset 22 of a crankshaft 23. The slide I5, together with the lower endof the upper spring and the upper end of the lower spring form themovable part of the carrier, and it is evident that the movablepart,'together with the insignia device I2a, can oscillate freely byfleXure of the springs, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Eachinsignia device oscillatesup and down about a mean position (shown insolid lines) that is determined by the position of the lower end of thespring le. The crankshaft 23 may be driven continuously or,intermittently by any suitable mechanism. In the embodiment shown, theshaft is driven by a belt drive assembly 24 from an electric motor 25through a speed reducing gear assembly (not shown). The crankshaft 23extends horizontally and parallel to the bill-board and has an oir-setfor each movable insignia device. Thus, an oiset 22aI connected to aspring 190:, for actuating an adjoining insignia is shown in Fig. 2.These offsets are preferably at different angular orientations, wherebythe lower ends of the springs I9 are moved out of phase with each otherand the several movable insignia devices will move in succession insteadof in unison. Thus, in- Fig.v l, the

' offsets-22 on one inch, giving two-inch strokes to` mean positions ofthe insignia devices, shown in solid lines, are at different elevations.

In operation, the oscillatory movement of the insignia devices can bemade to exceed greatly the stroke of the crank offsets 22 by a suitableselection of spring stiffness. This magnification of the stroke of thecrank stroke is a particular feature of the invention and is madepossible by connecting the crank to the insignia device only through theresilient carrier, instead of directly to the insignia device or slide.By way of example, a typical installation, applied to a large,twentyfour 'sheet'outdoor billboard, the crank may have the lower endsof the springs I9; the slides i5 and insignia devices can be made tooscillate with vertical strokes as great as 24 inches. In such aninstallation the crankshaft 23 may, for example, be rotated at a speedof rev. per min. These dimensions, strokes and speed are, of course,merely illustrative, and it is possible to adapt the invention to use ofrelatively greater strokesv for the crank oiset and relatively smalleroscillatory movements.

Because the several movable insignia devices can all oscillate freely intheir respective Acarriers, independently of each other, varying visualeffects are produced that are effective in attract-V ing and holding theattention of an observer.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified form of the invention that is particularlyintended for smaller advertising displays, suchas devices to be placedin shop windows, but which may also be employed for outdoor advertising.In this embodiment the display device comprises a front display panel orbill-board 30 which may have a part thereof recessed or set back asshown at 3l. rIhe device has an enclosure comprising a floor 32, a rearwall 33, a roof 34, and end walls 35 may optionally be provided andjoined to the bill-board for housing the mechanism. The bill-boardcarries movable insignia to indicate an advertising or sales message.The movable insignia comprise a plurality of individually movableinsignia devices 36a, 36h, etc., each device being a solid objectbearing a literal or pictorial representation, here embodied by aplaque. These movable insignia devices are vertically movable upwardlyfrom their normal positions as shown in solid lines for the insigniadevice 36a to a raised position. Further, each movable insignia devicecan oscillate upwards and downwards from the normal position thereof asindicated in dotted lines.

The oor carries a support 31 to which resilient arms 38a-38e, which maybe made of stiff wire, are secured by retaining members 39, set backfrom the front edge of the support. Each arm has a transverse supportpart 40 at the rear serving as a pivot axis or spindle and the followingparts forwardly of the pivot: a rst part Mextending substantiallyhorizontally to a shoulder 42; a second part 43 extending upwardly fromthe shoulder; and a longer, third part 44 extending forwardly from topof the second part through one of the vertical slots 45o-45e in thebillboard. Each movable insignia device is secured to the front of oneof the arms in front of the billboard for support by the respective armand movement therewith. The front edge of the support forms a limit stopat 46 against which the iirst part 4l of each arm rests when the arm isin the lower, normal position thereof. It is evident that, in view ofthe long distance between the stop 45 and the insignia device the latterwill oscillate below .and above the normal position by exureof theresilient arm when the arm is dropped from a raised position to thenormal position.

' For actuating the arms there are provided a horizontal shaft 41extending transversely to the arms and beneath them, substantiallyparallel to the bill-board and near the shoulders 42; the shaft'isjournalled in bracket supports 43a and 48h carried by the support. Ateach arm there is a cam device liga-4de, having` a plurality of liftfingers or abutments 50 that are secured for rotation with the shaft andare elongated axially with respect to the shaft and are disposed toengage the first parts 4| of the arms just in rear of the shoulders 42uponrotation of the shaft in the clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 5to lift the arms; the shaft is located so that the abut-- ments willmove forwardly of the shoulders when the arms are raised upon continuedrotation of the shaft, permitting the arms to drop by gravity to theirnormal positions. Any convenient number of lift abutments, e. g., four,may be used, and these should be preferably spaced angularly about theshaft so that the arms will not be engaged by a succeeding liftabutment.

It is, however, also possible to permit the arm to drop onto thesucceeding lift abutment, by a closer spacing of the abutments .as shownin Fig. 6, in which case the lift abutment serves as the limit stopmeans, and the insignia device will oscillate about a gradually movingmean position. Thus,fthe shaft lll carries six ngcrs 5 l, the shaftbeing closer to the resilient arms and the angular interval being smallenough so that the arm is supported by one finger at all times exceptwhile dropping from raised position. This causes the insignia devices tobe moved continuously, as in the embodiment of Figs. 1-3.

lThe shaft All may be rotated by any suitable mechanism. In theembodiment shown this comprises a crank arm 52, formed by bending theendof the shaft, and located to be engaged by a pin 53 on a driving arm5d which is xed to the shaft of a small electric motor 55 having a speedreduction gearing (not shown).

The cam devices G9a-49e for the several arms are preferably orienteddifferently on the shaft ll'l` so that the arms are not raised in unisonbut are moved in succession, to cause the movable insignia devices tomove independently of each other, thereby causing varying visualeffects. Hence the drive elements, constituted by the Afingers` 5t and5l, are connected to the shaft `il, which is a common movable member, indifferent phase relations to engage the respective arms recurrently andsuccessively. lThe visual effect created by the movable insigna devices,moving simultaneously and in different directions, i. e., the effect ofmultiple oscillation, is effective in attracting and holding theattention of an observer.

I claim as my invention:

1. Mechanism for an animated display device comprising, in combination:a support structure; avertical guide; an insignia device mounted for.reciprocating movement in said slide a resilient carrier for saidinsignia device comprising rst resilient means interconnected betweensaid support structure and slide and affording upward support to theinsignia device and second resilient means connected to said slide tourge said insignia device downwardly, whereby said insignia device canoscillate freely along said guide 4by ilexure of said first and secondresilient means; and actuating means mounted on said support structureand connected to said second resilient means at a part thereof away fromthe insignia device for alternately increasing and decreasing thedownward force of the second resilient means, whereby the insigniadevice can be moved vertically by said actuating means and is free tooscillate vertically independently of the movement of the actuatingmeans.

2. Mechanism for an animated display device comprising, in combination:a vertical guide; a slide for said guide; an insignia device carried bysaid slide; a i'lrst tension spring having the upper end thereof fixedwith respect to the guide and the lower end thereof secured to saidslide; crankshaft beneath the slide; a second tension spring having theupper end thereof secured to said slide and the lower end thereofsecured to an eccentric part of the crankshaft; and means for rotatingsaid crankshaft, whereby said slide and insignia device will be movedvertically as said crankshaft is rotated and said slide and insigniadevice can oscillate freely independently ofthe movement of thecrankshaft.

3. Mechanism for an animated display device comprising, in combination:a support; a plural'- ity of resilient insignia carrier arms extendingforwardly from the support and mounted thereon for pivotal movementin asubstantially vertical plane, each of said carrier arms having a firstpart extending forwardly substantially horizontally from the pivotalsupport, a second part extending upwardly from the first part to providea shoulder at the forward end of the first part, and a third partextending forwardly from the second part; an insignia device xed to thefront end of the third part of each carrier arm for movement therewith;limit stop means on said support spaced rearwardly a substantialdistance from the movable insignia device for engaging said carrier armsand limiting the downward movement of the forward part of the carrierarms to predetermined positions, whereby the movable insignia devicescan oscillate vertically by resilient flexure of the carrier arms whenthe arms are brought into engagement with the stop means; a horizontalshaft beneath and transverse to the carrier arm located near to saidshoulder; one or more lift ngers on said shaft at each arm disposed toengage the under side of the first part of the arm rearwardly of saidshoulder upon rotation of the shaft in a given direction thereby toraise the forward part of the arm pivotally from said predeterminedposition and, upon continued rotation of the shaft inthe same direction,to slide forwardly along the arm beyond the shoulder to permit the armto return to said normal position, said ngers for the different armsbeing disposed in different angular relations to the shaft so as to movethe respective arms in succession; and means for continuously rotatingsaid shaft in said given direction.

4. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the limit stop means isstationary and is located between said shoulder and the pivotal supportof the carrier arm.

5. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the shaft has a plurality ofangularly displaced lift fingers for each arm, the lingers being closelyspaced in that the iirst part of the arm engages a succeeding arm uponbeing released by a preceding arm, that said succeed-ing arm being thelimit stop means.

6. An animated display device comprising, in combination: a support; aplurality of resilient insignia carrier arms` pivotally mounted to saidsupport forv individual pivotal. movements substantially verticalplanes, each carrier' arm extending forwardly from the pivotal supportthereof and biased to rotate toward a predetermined position; aninsignia device fixed to a forward part of each carrier arm for supportthereby and vertical movement therewith, said insignia. devices being inproximity to one another and each having a representation related to theothers to convey a message; limit stop means spaced rearwardly asubstantial distance from the movable insignia devices for limiting thepivotal movements of the carrier arms to said predetermined positionsthereof, whereby each movable `insignia devices can oscillate verticallyby resilient flexure of the respective carrier arm when the arm is inengagement with the stop means; and actuating means for impartingmovements to said insignia devices including cam devices mounted on saidsupport and disposed to engage the respective carrier arms at partsthereof spaced from the insignia devices to displace said armsrecurrently and pivotally, said -cam devices being disposed in differentphase relations to engage the several arms in succession, from theirpredetermined positions and releasing them for return to said positions.

7. An animated display device comprising, in combination: an uprightbill-board; a plurality lof openings in said bill-board; a plurality ofresilient insignia carrier arms pivotally supported for individualpivotal movements about a common horizontal axis in rear of andsubstantially parallel to said bill-board, each carrier arm extendingforwardly from the pivotal support thereof through one of said openingsand being -biased to move to a normal position; movable insignia infront of the bill-board comprising a separate movable insignia devicefixed to the front end of each resilient carrier arm for support therebyand movement therewith; limit stop means for said carrier arms spacedrearwardly a substantial distance from said movable insignia devices forlimiting the pivotal movement of the front ends of the carrier arms tosaid normal positions, whereby each movable insignia device canoscillate vertically by resilient iiexure of the respective carrier armwhen the arm is brought into engagement with the stop means; ahorizontal shaft in rear of the bill-board eX- tending transversely tosaid carrier arms and having a plurality of rotatable cam means fixedthereto, there being one cam for each carrier arm, disposed to engagethe respective arm to cause pivotal movement of the forward part thereoffrom said normal position upon rotation of the shaft in a givendirection and to release the respective carrier arm for return to saidnormal position upon continued rotation of the shaft in the samedirection, said rotatable cam means being connected to said shaft atdifferent orientations whereby at least some of said movable insigniadevices will move in succession; and means for continuously rotatingsaid shaft in the said given direction.

8. An animated display device comprising, in combination: an uprightbill-board; a plurality of openings in said bill-board; a plurality ofresilient insignia carrier arms pivotally supported for individualpivotal movements about a common horizontal axis in rear of andsubstantially parallel to said bill-board, each carrier arm extendingforwardly from the pivotal support thereof in rear of the center ofgravity of the carrier arm and parts carried thereby through one of saidopenings to move by. gravity to a normal position with thefront endthereof depressed; movable insignia in front of the bill-boardcomprising a separate movable insignia devicel xed to the front end ofeach resilient carrier arm for support thereby and movement therewith;limit stop means for said arms spaced rearwardly a substantial distancefrom said movable insignia devices for limiting the downward pivotalmovement of the front ends of the carrier arms to said normal positions,whereby each movable insignia device can oscillate vertically byresilient flexure of the respective carrier arm when the arm is broughtinto engagement with the stop means; a horizontal shaft in rear of thebill-board extending transversely to said carrier arms and having aplurality of rotatable lift abutments fixed thereto, there being atleast one lift abutment for each carrier arm, disposed to engage therespective carrier arm to cause pivotal movement of the forward partthereof upwardly from said normal position upon rotation of the shaft ina given direction and to release the respective carrier arm to drop tosaid normal position upon continued rotation of the shaft in the samedirection, said rotatable lift abutments being connected to said shaftat different orientations whereby at least some of said movable insigniadevices will move in succession; and means for continuously rotatingsaid shaft in the said given direction.

9. An animated display device comprising, in combination: a support; aplurality of insignia carriers each of which has a supported partsecured to the support, at least one resilient part. and a part movablewith respect to said support upon iiexure of said resilient part; aninsignia device secured to each carrier at the movable part thereof forindependent oscillations of the several insignia devices with respect tosaid support by exure of the respective resilient parts of the carriers,said insignia devices being in proximity to one another and each bearinga representation related to the others to convey a message; andactuating means for imparting movement to said insignia devicesincluding a common movable member mounted on said support and aplurality of drive elements operatively connected to said movable memberin different phase relations to be recurrently and successively movedthereby relatively to said support, said drive elements vbeing disposedto engage the respective carriers at parts thereon spaced from theinsignia devices by resilient parts of the carriers, whereby eachinsignia device is free to oscillate independently of said recurrentmotions.

10. The display device according to claim 9 wherein the movable memberis a rotatable shaft having the said drive elements connected theretofor movements in accordance with the angular position of the shaft, thedrive elements for different carriers being connected in differentangular relations to the shaft so as to move said parts of the carriersin succession.

l combination: an upright bill-board; a plurality of verticallyelongated openings in said bill-board; a support in rear of thebill-board; a plurality of insignia carriers, one for each of saidopenings, each carrier having a supported part secured to the support ata fixed location on the support, at least one resilient part, and a partat the respective opening that is movable substantially vertically uponiiexure of saidresilient part; an insignia device in front of thebill-board at each opening therein and secured to the movable part ofthe insignia carrier thereat through the respective opening forindependent, substantially vertical movements of the several insigniadevices with respect to said support and bill-board by iiexure of theresilient parts of the several carriers; and actuating means forimparting substantially Vertical movements to said insignia devicesincluding a common movable member on 10 the support and a plurality ofdrive elements connected to said movable member and connected thereto indiierent phase relations to be recurrently, successively and verticallymoved thereby, said drive elements being disposed to engage therespective carriers at parts thereon separated from the insignia devicesby resilient parts of the carriers to permit free oscillations of theinsignia devices independently of the motions of the drive elements. Y

' STEPHEN TOTH.

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